Day 3 continued - After the net we had another beer and some food at a place near where I stayed last time. So many of the crappy little bars selling cheap beer, had been replaced with shops which was really sad to see. We wandered back to Khao San road and had another cheapie foot massage (120 baht for half an hour = $4.28 AUD).
We continued on and would stop in a bar and have a drink, then continue shopping.
Then stop in another bar and have another drink.
Then keep wandering and shopping.
Repeat too many times.

We ended up at one bar and saw this young guy sitting all alone at a table. Being the dags that we are, with a few too many drinks under the belt, mum and I both went over and invited him over to our table. His name was Willie and he was 20 and from Germany. it was his last night in Bangkok, and it was ours as well, so the Beer Chang kept flowing.

I'm sure you can all piece together the rest of the evening.

Fast forward to Thursday morning (day 4) and we both woke up feeling rather seedy. The kick of the elephant was strong indeed!
I couldn't quite muster up the effort to go downstairs for breakfast so we just finished off what fruit we had in our bar fridge and very slowly made our way downstairs to check out. We left some baggage (mostly full of gifts and wintery clothes we bought) at the Arnoma Hotel since we will be returning there for our final night before flying home. And we were worried that we would be over the 15kg baggage limit of the internal airlines.

We almost had a disaster when the girl at the hotel told us that Air Asia flew out of the OLD airport. I kept insisting she ring and check and when she finally did, it turned out that Air Asia did fly out of the NEW airport. Thank god we didn't go all the way out there. The airports are both about 30 km from the city IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS!!!

We checked into the flight super early, found some awesome food, and then slept like babies on the hour flight to Chiang Rai.

The resort we are staying in is about 5-10 minutes drive from the town center, but its right on the river and absolutely divine. Its called the Legend Spa and Resort and its the most ritzy place I've ever stayed in. We have a bungalow room and a double bed and a single bed. The shower is the whole bathroom. You just stand in the middle of the room and shower. The toilet is obviously seperate!!

We've got a balcony with a swing seat. Mosquito nets over the beds on bamboo frames, which looks so beautiful, plus aircon, all the fancy stuff.
The whole resort has been landscaped with beautiful gardens. Mum is going crazy checking out all the differnent types of plants. They have a pool that overlooks the river, fitness room, restaurant with great views, beauty center. With the package, we had a dinner included as well as an 1.5 hour thai massage each. Buffet breakfast every morning too.

We had the free dinner last night and went to bed super early last night. This morning we had breakfast, had a swim, had our massage, did some exercise in the fitness room, had another swim, walked down the road and found a noodle shop for lunch.
We then just sat around watching tv in the room while a massive storm went by. Thunder, lightning and buckets of rain. It is definitely the rainy season here!!!! It finally broke about 5pm and we got a driver to take us to town at 6pm. But the night markets are a bit slow at setting up because of the rain so we're just killing time in the net cafe.

Tomorrow the plan is to get a long neck boat from the hotel pier down to the Karen village. Right next to the village is the elephant camp where you can go for an elephant ride. Then in the afternoon we're booked in for some more spa/massage treatments.
Oh yeah, we're really living the hard life!!!!

Is eveyone jealous yet? hehehe

Labels: Bangkok, beer, chiang rai, cocktail, drinks, elephant, holiday, khao san road, markets, shopping, thai, thailand, travel, trip, vacation, village

Not heaps to report about. We're currently taking a breather and cooling down in a net cafe right outside of Khao San Road.

We had a HUGE sleep in this morning (9am!!!!) and no gym, but had breakfast and lazed around the hotel room while getting ready and didn't actually get out of there til 11.30am or so. The last few days had been quite overcast and hazy and weren't too hot, so we thought we might try and walk to Khao San road, knowing it would take at least 2 hours, but at least we would see heaps of the local sights on the way.

but today its full on sunny and HOT HOT HOT! so after about half an hour we gave up and jumped in a cab. Mum had worn jeans and sneakers and was dying of heat, so we bought her a trendy cheesecloth skirt and some straw thongs with bells on them (whole outfit not costing more than $15- which was still quite a rip off for here) so now she's coping with the heat alot better.

A found a stall selling shirts with funky designs, half of the designs were total rip offs of threadless.com designs or other shirts designs i have seen selling in the valley markets for $30 or more! I also found some girls tank tops with intricate material/lace etc sewn into the back of them - which I've also seen in the valley markets and stores selling for quite a price. I picked one up from this stall for $6!!
I totally thought those shirts were handmade in australia, but lo and behold they're thai!

By this stage we were both hot and bothered again so we sat down in the closest beer garden and shared a tallie of Beer Chang..... I had no idea that beer chang was 6.4% alcohol!!!! No wonder they say it has the kick of an elephant the next day. hehehe

I'm going to take mum down the road after we're done on the net, and show her the backpackers place I stayed at 4 years ago, and will see if i can find my Fruit smoothie in a plastic bag stall that I went to every day. I wonder if the beer gardens around there will still have guys sitting out the front yelling "BEER CHANG 40 BAHT!" or if they will have gone up to 50 baht or more....

Yesterday after we sent our emails, we found a massage place on the street and had our second hour long foot massage - this time for only 139 baht ($4.96). again, it was pure bliss. We ventured over to Patpong last nite and spent even more money on cool shit and got hit up by so many guys wanting us to check out the girly shows. they are so not discreet about it. argh its so wrong!

I ended up really sad, because I found half a dozen stalls that were selling convincing fake bags, including a BLACK version of my Chloe bag. I had paid 2200 baht for it in a shop yesterday, but I managed to knock down a lady to under 2000 baht last night. But at the last minute I resisted buying a second one just because..... oh well! it was still a bargin.

Ok, now we're off to wander around some more and than have some more beers for our last night in Bangkok. tomorrow we fly to Chiang Rai, up north.

Labels: Bangkok, beer, chiang rai, cocktail, drinks, holiday, khao san road, markets, patpong, shoes, shopping, thai, thailand, threadless, travel, trip, tshirts, vacation

Labels: Bangkok, cocktail, drinks, holiday, khao san road, markets, patpong, shoes, shopping, thai, thailand, travel, trip, vacation

so its 3pm on monday. we've had a great first day..... mum woke me up at 6.30am (well not deliberately but she couldn't sleep and i woke up as she wandered around)so we went down to the hotel's fitness center and had an hour on the bikes/treadmills and a few weights. a nice way to start of the day, and get us both energised.

Thailand doesn't really "wake up" til 10am. Most shopping centers weren't open til then (but then they stay open til 10 or 11pm). So after we gymmed and showered, we went downstairs to have breakfast. we get complimentary breakfast at this place and i thouht it would be just western breakfast, but luckily we were wrong!!! there was all sorts of thai and japanese style foods. so we had stir fry veg, and steamed fish and rice and noodles for breakfast, as well as fruit and juice.

We then wandered to a few of the shopping centers and have been going shoe crazy!!! Like Abu Dhabi, Thailand has heaps of shoes for about $5-10!!! Mum has bought 3 pairs of shoes already, and I've got 2!!! Lucky I only brought 3 pairs of shoes with me!

We have since been back to the hotel to drop off some of our bags and then we went to the Big C shopping center right beside our hotel. We found a cheap shop taht sold really nice silver jewelery so mum bought up gifts for all her girls who work for her and I got a few extra things for gifts, plus jewelry for myself heheh. We then wandered into the supermarket and omg had such a blast!!! They have sooo much fruit here, and its all so cheap and tasty. They had a whole wall of the fresh fruit section devoted JUST to green asian veg. So many different varieties, not just good old bok choy and choy sum!Mum and I made total embarassments out of ourselves by taking photos of things. I got a photo of me under a sign that says TV Dinners but its all these pre-cut up and packed ingredients to make yummy thai stirfries and meals! So not our definition of a TV dinner.

We then stocked up on snacky food and fruit to take back to our hotel room. We wanted to get some bottles of beer and Spy (wine coolers) but it was 2:20pm and they can only sell alcohol in teh supermarket between 11-2pm and from 5-11pm!!! what the hell?!

By this stage we were starving so we ate at a restaurant in the shopping center and had a big plate of Som Tum (spicy papaya salad) and sticky rice and a Prawn & morning glory (green asian vegetable) stir fry dish. All for the equivalent of $4!!!!!

We're both now finally havnig a rest (I have shoppers legs already!!!!) and emailing everyone, and then we've booked in for an hour foot massage in our hotel at 6pm.

The flight was pretty good - with the memory of the flight to London still fresh in my memory anything less than a 10 hour flight is a breeze!!! We had paid for all the extras - food, video entertainment and the comfort pack - thank god! I really needed the blanket and socks and the neck pillow, sleeping mask and ear plugs really helped. I dozed for a few hours. The flight was quite empty so mum sat in seats behind me and we were both able to stretch out over double seats.The food was pretty average compared to the fantastic food provided by Emirates, but its better than nothing.

I had booked us a airport pick up service so as soon as we got through customs we found the hotel representative and we were straight in a car. So much easier than trying to haggle for a taxi. We were checked into our hotel by about 9pm thai time (midnght bris time) - we were greated with a welcome drink!!! hheheh the hotel is pretty ritzy - we've got bathrobes in our room and slippers and sweets on our pillows. We went down to the bar and had a drink to celebrate our arrival, before we finally decided to head to bed.
So that's it so far. More to come!!!!

Labels: Bangkok, holiday, shoes, shopping, thai, thailand, travel, trip, vacation

I've been back a bit over a week and have been meaning to write about the trip but its been a busy week. I was back at work the day after getting home and I've been trying to unpack (which always takes me ages), catch up with friends and catch up on all the tv show episodes I missed while away... anyway here goes... its going to be long winded and I'll add some photos... more photos will be added to my photo gallery eventually:

25 November: My flight left at 8pm from Brisbane International Airport and mum had driven down so she could take me to the airport... as well as to the spend the day together beforehand. We get out there by 6pm and there's already a bit of a line to check in, but nothing too huge.
My bag checked in at 18kg, which was a couple of kg under the 20kg limit. However the guy at the check in desk said they are fairly lenient and can allow up to 28kg on Emirates before you are charged extra baggage fees. THANK GOD, because I planned to buy a bit and knew my bag would end up weighing more on the way home.

Mum and I grabbed a quick drink together and reminisced about the last time we were in that airport back in 1999 before I left for Thailand. Then onto the plane!!!! wheeee!

I didn't think to request an aisle seat and I got stuck between two guys- an eager to chat indian guy on the window and a huge maori guy on the aisle. The flight had come from Auckland and they had both been on the first leg of the flight. I settled into my seat and the maori guy pulled his beanie over his eyes and tucked his blanket up under the chin the moment we took off.
Oh shit.... I knew this was going to be trouble. I always need to pee and wanted to be able to get up to stretch my legs whenever I wanted, but this guy took up all the seat, his knees up against the seat in front. There was no way I could jump over him or squeeze by so I had to wake him up every time I had to get up. And then of course he started leaning into my side when he slept. ARGH!

The guy on my other side was so eager to talk. I got straight into the movies and entertainment as we took off, but wearing headphones wasn't enough to put this guy off. He would start talking to me, asking me where I was going, where I was from, asking my name. Ergh, I try to be unapproachable but it never seems to work. I'm always the one people seem to start chatting to, asking me horribly personal questions I don't feel comfortable answering but I don't know how to say "FUCK OFF" in a polite way.

Luckily dinner came out fairly soon after taking off (and my god, Emirates food is the best airplane food I've ever had) and then they turned off the cabin lights so we all nodded off to the sleep. 6 or 7 hours later and we stopped in Singapore for a quick refuel. I didn't get off the plane, but just wandered around and stretched my legs.

It was another 7 hours to Dubai, and I slept for most of it, only waking up for breakfast. We had to transfer planes in Dubai and I was glad to finally see the last of my two fellow flyers. There was only an hour or so stop-over and then I was back onthe plane. This time I got a window seat, no one beside me and then a young girl from South Africa in the aisle. She slept for most of it but was all curled up so I could squeeze past her. This 7 hour leg of the flight zoomed by.

Flying out of Dubai was amazing... it was just after dawn so it was nicely lit and I could see all the buildings and houses as we took off. The buildings were very different looking to Australian buildings. All white brick/concrete with flat rooms. A couple of stories high. It reminded me of Thailand quite a bit.

26 November: We were delayed a bit because of heavy rain in London so we didn't land til close to 1pm (instead of 11am). I was so anxious as we circled around and around. I was so close, so close to London, to starting my trip, so desperate for a shower hehehe. It had been 25 hours in the air, but it was more like 30 hours by the time I actually got to shower.

Finally, after a long line in customs and a horrible bitch of a woman welcoming me to the country, I was finally in London. With the help of the South African girl's friends who met her, I got on the tube from Heathrow and made my way to Liverpool station. I parted ways with the girls and changed lines to go to Algate East. It was so exciting, navigating the London Tube for the first time all by myself.

I called Chris (a friend from high school I was staying with for the first night) and started walking to his place from the station. He met me half way and we went back to his flat in Brick Lane. The cobble stone streets with a bit of a pain with my bag on wheels, but my first impressions of London were nothing but positive.

It wasn't as cold that first day as I had feared, and the buildings were so old and "london-looking". Another friend from high school, Fiona, who was also living in London came over and after a fantastic hot shower we just chatted and drank tasty Spanish wine and ate a roast dinner that Chris's friend had been cooking all afternoon.


I think that was the first time I had tried red wine from any other country than Australia. I'll have to check out my local bottle shop to see if they even stock wine from other countries......
By 9pm London time, the jetlag caught up with me and I had to head to bed.

27 November: Chris and I had a lazy breakfast and then I was off to meet up with Houmam at lunch time. I caught the tube again to Earls Court, where our hostel was. It's lame I know, but I was so excited to see Houmam after he had been gone a whole week before I left. The hostel wasn't too bad. Brilliant location, right down the road from the tube station... we had a bunk bed with a double bed on the bottom and a single bed on the top, plus a private bathroom in the room. It wasn't huge but it was enough.

28 November - 2 December: We visited Hyde Park and took photos of the Marble arch, visited Harrods department store (what impressive christmas displays and holy hell, what an awesome toy department!!). We walked down Oxford steet right on dusk. The whole street was decorated with the most beautiful Christmas lights. We walked past Park Road (hehehe from the Monopoly board- I was getting such a kick out of seeing all the sights and streets made famous by Monopoly, in real life!)

The next day we did a Beatles tour, which was awesome! I walked across Abbey Road, took a photo in front of the studios, saw sights from A Hard Day's Night, apartments they used to live in and heard lots of funny stories about local sights and places. It was actually really good, a must for any Beatles fan. Abbey Road is actually really really busy, and its impossible to get a photo from the correct angle because the famous shot was actually taken on a ladder in the middle of the road. But it was still fun walking across.

We then headed over to the West End and grabbed a quick meal before the matinee performance of Spamalot... Oh My God, the show was awesome! I love Tim Curry and I love Monty Python and I LOVE singing and dancing, so I was in heaven. Everyone sang along to "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" and they were selling all sorts of weird merchandise like Spam sandwiches (Spamwiches) during the intervals. I just bought a badge ("I fart in your general direction") and a program.

The next evening we went and saw Wicked. We arrived early to pick up our tickets and there were signs saying this evening's performance Elphaba would be played by the understudy. I almost starting crying right there. I wanted to see Idina Menzel sooo badly and she was playing Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West before she becomes wicked). She was in the original broadway cast and was performing a limited season in London. I loved her in Rent and although I never saw Rent live, I was really hanging out to see Idina belt out some tunes, ANY tunes in the flesh.
We went to grab some dinner before the show and sulked the whole time. But when we got back to the theatre all the signs were gone. I nervously went up to one of the ticket booths and was told the good news... Idina would be performing tonight!!!! YAY!!!!!

Our seats were not as good as the Spamalot show (we were in the stalls for that). We were in the dress circle for Wicked and I did find it a bit offputting being so high up, looking down on the stage, rather than being eye level with it or the actors. Idina's voice was fantastic as always, however it was a bit strange that she kept her american accent while the rest of the cast was British. It seemed a bit odd. Since getting home I've downloaded the Wicked soundtrack and I have to admit I much prefer an all american cast, especially an american Galinda (or Glinda as she later is known).

Some of the songs were fantastic and had Houmam singing them for days afterwards. Idina's voice brought tears to my eyes a few times, when she would hit these big notes. AHHH I loved it. Seeing two musicals in London's West End was definitely a highlight of the trip.

We visited a number of museums and galleries including the British Museum, the National Gallery and the Tate Modern. We did the Big Bus Tour of London (rode around in an open top double decker bus and saw all the sights), we visited Buckingham Palace and saw the Queen in her car with all her entourage. Well, we saw the car, not the Queen as there were SHITLOADS of people there, who looked like they had been waiting for hours. We went on the London Eye right on dusk, which was beautiful. It would be great to go on again during the day, but the night time view of London was gorgeous.

It was definitely colder by the end of this first week in London, and I was glad to have lots of layers. I whined alot! But I knew I wouldn't be able to handle the cold.


to be continued.....

Labels: beatles, england, eurotrip, holiday, london, spamalot, vacation, wicked